Brown named finalist for Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence

PROVIDENCE – In its third year, five finalists, including Brown University, have been named by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation for its $1 million Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence.

The winner of the largest award recognizing a college or university’s efforts to enroll low-income students and support them in graduating will be announced in May.

In prepared remarks, Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy said the finalists are “leaders in opening their doors wider to outstanding low-income students” and called on other institutions of higher education to follow in their path.

In highlighting Brown University, the Cooke Foundation said 34 percent of undergraduate students at Brown receiving financial aid are low-income students and 16 percent are eligible to receive federal Pell Grants, which are available to low-income students. In addition, it noted the First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center, which aids a student’s transition to college life.

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The remaining finalists were Rice University out of Houston, Texas; Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.; the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif.; and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Previously, the inaugural $1 million award was presented to Vassar College in 2015 and Amherst College was recognized in 2016.

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a PBN staff writer.